Blog

When it comes to choosing a managed services provider, it’s often very difficult to know if the proposed solution is really going to meet your needs and make life better. That’s a chance we all take when we work with a new service provider. But we believe that the key is in the onboarding process. In many instances, clients want to skip this critical step in order to get relief for their pain. But this is usually a big mistake that can lead to even bigger problems down the line. Misunderstandings, misaligned priorities, poor communications, undefined and agreed upon quality standards (among others) can create unnecessary bumps in the road and even lead to a premature breakup!

That’s why at Istonish, we place a huge emphasis on getting you up and running with a comprehensive onboarding. Our approach addresses six key areas:

Labor & Training. We will assess the most critical component to high-quality service delivery – talent. If we need to hire people to support your account, train our existing team, or onboard technicians from your team to ours, we will make sure this happens in a smooth, timely manner.

Technical Assessment. During this critical phase of onboarding, our Service Delivery Management Team will work with your internal technology resources to account for all equipment, applications, operating systems, determine access controls and permissions, and document all information gathered for accuracy and reference purposes.

Detailed Requirements and Criteria for Success. Expectations are set from the beginning with clearly identified requirements and criteria for success. Together we will define the work required to get to “steady state operations” and identify success at each milestone.

Process & Procedures. Standardized and documented processes and procedures are essential to consistency and quality. Our team will make recommendations based on our experience to make sure that our team seamlessly integrates into your business operations.

Communications. Establishing clear lines of communications is essential to good service. Whether it entails very specific escalation paths or something as simple as calling a mobile phone rather than a desk line, we will establish on both sides who to call, at what time, and for what reasons. This makes issue resolutions fast and easy, and provides you with “peace of mind.”

Governance. The governance process that will help ensure that we meet and hopefully exceed service level agreements, but also help set strategic direction for your program. Depending on your culture and style, this can be done in a formal quarterly business review meeting or during ongoing, regular status meetings.

So when you’re looking for an almost “sure bet” when choosing a managed IT services provider, make sure to insist on a provider like Istonish who will insist on a proper onboarding. It will save you hours of sleepless nights and countless headaches.